Dragon Quest IX: Protectors of the Sky (DS)

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2; 2005) was my first foray into the world of Yuuji Horii and Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Quest series since the early days of the NES’ Dragon Warrior (which I obtained in the popular Nintendo Power giveaway) and I was so enamored with the game, its mechanics, rich world, and characters that I decided to use it as a springboard to start my own DQ collection. I quickly re-obtained that original NES cartridge, and spent a couple of years hunting down complete versions of the Game Boy DQ Remakes I-III, Dragon Quest Monsters I-II, and DQVII for future rainy days. I scarfed up Rocket Slime and Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker for the DS a couple of years ago, and of course, the shiny new version of DQIV was released only a few weeks ago as the first of 3 remakes on the Nintendo DS which will bring the series up-to-date here in the states, all the way up to Dragon Quest IX: Protectors of the Sky which should be hitting our shores sometime in 2009.

A better version of the TGS trailer for the game can be found in the video sidebar and from the looks of it, its going to exceed my own lofty expectations coming out of the epic Journey of the Cursed King. Toriyama’s classic art style is handled so well in the impressive cut scene footage and while the DS can’t quite muster the detail found in DQVIII, it certainly still knocks it out of the park on the hand-held. What’s more, I’m jazzed at the prospect of creating and equipping my characters as shown in the video. So, if you haven’t seen it, sit back and take a moment to enjoy the music and the way in which the video quickly endears the characters to the audience as they try to fight back the forces of evil endangering the land.